Transport of the Surgical Neonate

The successful outcome of an operation performed on a newborn with congenital anomalies depends not only on the skill of the paediatric surgeon but also on that of a large team consisting of a paediatrician, anaesthetist, radiologist, pathologist, biochemist, nurses, and others necessary for dealing satisfactorily with the newborn infant subjected to surgery. Advances in neonatal intensive care dictate that effective and effi cient treatment of the sickest neonates can only be available by concentrating resources such as equipment and skilled staff in a few specialist paediatric centres that have responsibilities to a particular region. It is well established that the outcome of critically ill neonates is better if they are cared for in specialised tertiary centres. In addition, it has been shown that the prognosis for ill neonates is better if postnatal care is given in the same hospital in which they were born. However, not every critically ill neonate can and must be antenatally transferred. Neonates with congenital malformations will therefore have to be transported safely to the specialised centres, sometimes over considerable distances.